Method for Creating Map Data and Map Data Utilization Apparatus

1. A method of creating map data for representing a map for use in a map data utilization apparatus, the map made up from a plurality of map components and each of the plurality of map components having a plurality of attribute types defined in the map data, each of the attribute types is associated with at least one other attribute type from among the plurality of attribute types, the method comprising: associating, by a processor, attribute data records of a subject attribute type with attribute data records of an other attribute type by having each of the attribute data records of the other attribute type indicate a number of associated data records from the subject attribute type that respectively correspond with the attribute data record of the other attribute type; arranging, by the processor, a data list of the attribute data records for the subject attribute type based on (i) a sequential order of the attribute data records of the other attribute type such that the data list for each of the attribute types are aligned to have a same arrangement order as its associated at least one other attribute type for representing the map components of the map data, and (ii) the number of associated data records identified per each of the attribute data records of the other attribute type that respectively correspond with the attribute data record of the other attribute type such that a relationship is established between one attribute data record of the other attribute type and the corresponding attribute data records of the subject attribute type; and storing, by the processor, as the map data for representing the map for use in the map data utilization apparatus, in a form of the data list which is arranged, the attribute data records for each of the plurality of attribute types based on an association between the plurality of attribute types, wherein the attribute data records for representing each of the plurality of attribute types of each of the plurality of map components are formed as one data list.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a group of data lists for each of the plurality of attribute types includes an extended data list that belongs to a main data list, the method further comprising: formulating, by the processor, the extended data list as a data list that lacks attribute data records that are associated with a part of the plurality of map components that are associated with the attribute data records in the main data list; and formulating, by the processor, the main data list as a data list that has an arrangement of attribute data records of each of the plurality of map components in the map, and has embedded identifying information of the attribute data record that is non-existent in the extended data list.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the formulating of the main data list embeds a flag in the attribute data record of each of the plurality of map components in the main data list, the flag representing whether a corresponding attribute data record exists in the extended data list.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: formulating, by the processor, a basic data list that is formed as arrangement of basic attributes that are indispensable in the map data as the attribute data records; and formulating, by the processor, an extended data list that is formed as arrangement of extended attributes that are dispensable in the map data as the attribute data records, wherein the map data is created in a plurality of different forms according to inclusion and non-inclusion of the extended data list based on the basic data list.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the extended data list formulation procedure formulates the extended data list by appropriately omitting the attribute data records that corresponds to a part of the plurality of map components associated with the attribute data records in the basic data list, and the basic data list formulation procedure embeds, in the basic data list, identifying information that enables identification of the attribute data records omitted from the extended data list.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the basic data list formulation procedure embeds, in the attribute data record of each of the plurality of map components in the basic data list, a flag that represents existence of corresponding attribute data records of the component in the extended data list.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the map component is a link that represents a road as a unit of the map data, and the data list is an arrangement of a plurality of attribute data records that represent attributes of a corresponding link.

8. A map data utilization apparatus comprising: a processor for processing map data; and a map data input unit for inputting the map data to the processor, wherein the map data has a plurality of map components for drawing a map, each of the plurality of map components has a plurality of attributes, which are respectively different, represented by attribute data records, each of the attributes is associated with at least one other attribute from among the plurality of attributes, such that the attribute data records of a subject attribute is associated with the attribute data records of an other attribute by a number of associated data record provided in each of the attribute data records of the other attribute, the number of associated data record indicates a number of attribute data records from the subject attribute that correspond with the attribute data record of the other attribute, a data list of the attribute data records for the subject attribute type is arranged based on (i) a sequential order of the attribute data records of the other attribute type such that the data list for each of the attribute types are aligned to have a same arrangement order as its associated at least one other attribute type for representing the map components of the map data, and (ii) the number of associated data records identified per each of the attribute data records of the other attribute type that respectively correspond with the attribute data record of the other attribute type such that a relationship is established between one attribute data record of the other attribute type and the corresponding attribute data records of the subject attribute type; and the attribute data records for each of the plurality of attribute types based on an association between the plurality of data types is stored, as the map data for representing the map for use in the map data utilization apparatus, in a form of the data list which is arranged; the attribute data records for each of the plurality of attributes is formulated as the data list, such that the data list of the attribute data record for the subject attribute is arranged based on a sequential order of the attribute data record of the other attribute and based on the number of associated data record identified in each of the attribute data record of the other attribute.

9. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 8 , wherein a group of data lists for each of the attribute data records include a main data list and an extended data list that belongs to the main data list, arrangement of attribute data records in the extended data list indicates a lack of the attribute data records corresponding to a part of the plurality of map components whose attribute data records are arranged in the main data list, and the main data list is formed as an arrangement of the attribute data records of the plurality of map components of the map and has embedded information indicating the lack of the attribute data record in the extended data list.

10. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the embedded information indicative of the lack of the attribute data record in the extended data list is a flag embedded in the main data list.

11. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the map component is a link that represents a road as a unit of the map data, and the data list is an arrangement of the plurality of the attribute data records that represent attributes of a corresponding link.

12. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 8 , wherein a group of data lists for each of the attribute data records includes a main data list and an extended data list that belongs to the main data list, arrangement of the attribute data records in the extended data list indicates a lack of the attribute data record corresponding to a part of the plurality of map components whose attribute data records are arranged in the main data list, and each of the attribute data records of the plurality of map components in the main data list has an absence indicator indicative of an absence of a corresponding attribute data record in the extended data list.

13. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the absence indicator of the corresponding attribute data record in the extended data list is a presence flag in the attribute data records of the main data list.

14. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the data list is categorized either as a main data list or an extended data list that is dependent on the main data list, the main data list is an arrangement of main attribute data records representative of each of the plurality of map components, the extended data list is an arrangement of extended attribute data records, a part of the plurality of map components in the main data list have no extended attribute data records in the extended data list, each of the plurality of map components in the main data list has extended attribute data record presence information, and the extended attribute data record presence information is included in the main data list.

15. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the extended attribute data record presence information is included as a flag in the main data list.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein records in the data list are formatted as a Mesh Unit Data of Road Data.

17. The map data utilization apparatus of claim 8 , wherein records in the data list are formatted as a Mesh Unit Data of Road Data.